Railway signaling apparatus.



No. 707,l82. Patdntd Aug. l9, I902.

J. n. TAYLOR.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Nov. 10, 1900.)

No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT Orin-(3 JOHN D. TAYLOR, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO TAYLOR SIGNAL COMPANY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RAILWAY SIG NALING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 707,182, dated August 19, 1902.

Application filed November 10, 1900. Serial No. 36,021. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- 1

Be it known that 1, JOHN D. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, and a'resident of the city of Buffalo, New York, have made certain new and useful-Improve ments in Railway Signaling Ap'paratus,:0f which-the following is a-fu'll, clear, and exact description. My invention relates toelectrically-oper ated apparatus for working-railway-signals; and it consists of improved mechanism for operating the circuit-co'ntroller'by which the and broken.

operating and indicating currents are made It furthermore relates to and is an improvement upon the mechanism heretofore patented to me March 20, 1894, No. 516,903; February 4, 1896, No. 554,097, and June 7, 1898, N0. 605,359,,Which constitute, together with other improvements disclosed in my pending applications Serial No. 36,022,"

filed NovemberlO, 1900, andSerial No. 36,019, filed November 10, 1900,"an improved electric switching and signaling system.- Y

The objects of this invention are, first, to break suddenly and through a wide space the operating-circuit when the signal is placed 'in the safety position, and thus prevent an are being formed; second, toprovide adjust able means for breaking the operating-circuit at the proper time when the signal'goes to safety third, to provide means for estab-' lishing the circuit containing the'motor and an indication-magnet in thecabin when the sig nal goes to the normal position, so that the current generated by the rotation of the signal-operating motor will not be developed until the arm is near enough to the danger position to insure its being in that position when the indication is given, or so near it that it cannot be mistaken for the safetvposition.

Referring to the drawings herewith, in which like characters of reference indicate like parts, Figure l is an elevation of asignal equipped,with my invention. Fig; 2 is an enlarged view in elevation of'the special mechanism, the train of gearing and chainsheave being omitted and one contact plate v and spring and one disk on the chain-sheave shaft being also removed to show the internal parts. Fig. 3 is a plan view of-the parts shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an under side view.

"of-the signal.

18 and 19.

of the same, the frame being omitted and the mechanism consisting of an electric motor 2 and a train of gearing connecting it to the shaft 3, which'is journaled in the frame 1 and carriesthe chain-drum 4, to which is attached one end of a chain, the' other end of which is attached to thecounterweight-lever The frame 1 also supports the mechanism of the circuit-controller by means of the lugs 5 and 6. The rod 7is fixed at one end to the lug 5 and at the other end to the lug 6 and is parallel to the frame 1 and at right angles to the shaft 3. A bar 8 has lugs 9 and 10, one at eachend, extending upwardly. These lugs have holes bored through them to receive the rod 7, so that the bar 8 is free to slide'parallel to the rod 7 and is guided thereby. The bar 8 has pallets 11, 12,.

tical plane. Wipers 14 and 15 are attached to the disks 16 andl7, respectively. The disks 16 and 17 are carried by the shaft 3 and are adjustable thereon by means of the set-screws plane of rotationof the wiper 14 and at certain positions of the bar 8 are in its path.

The pallet 13 is in the plane of rotation of the wiper 15 and at certain positions of the bar 8 is in its path. A block 20 is also arheld against the lug 10 by the spring 21,

wound around the rod 7, the other end of the spring 21 being retained by the lug 9. Contact-springs 22 are attached to the block 20 by arranged to press against the contact-plates 23 and 24 or 23 and 25, depending upon the position of the bar 8.

The drawings show the mechanism in its The pallets 11 and 12 are in the normal positionthat is, corresponding to the signal at normal or danger. In this position the springs 22 electrically connect contact-plates 23 and 24, through which a cur IOO A ranged'to slide loosely on the rod 7 and is i rent is led to the motor 2 for operating the signal. In clearing the signal the direction of rotation of the shaft 3 is that of a righthanded screw moving forward. When the wiper 14 has made about three-fourths of a rotation, it strikes the pallet 12, the wiper 15 in the meantime passing the pallet 13, because it lies without its path. The remaining one-quarter revolution of the wiper 14 carries the pallet 12 and bar 8 forward with it. At the end of the complete revolution of the wiper 14 the pallet 12 is in the position first occupied by the pallet 11. The block 20 is prevented from being carried forward with the bar 8 by means of the hook 26 on the end of the detent 27, the other end of the detent 27 being pivoted in a fork in the end of the lug 5. The forward motion of the bar 8 therefore results in the compression of the spring 21. When the bar 8 has moved far enough to bring the lug 9 under the projection 28 on the detent 27, which occurs just before the wiper 14 passes the pallet 12, the hook 26 is lifted out of engagement with the block 20. The block 20 and contact-springs 22 are then thrown forward until the block 20 again bears against the lug 10. This carries the contact-spring 22 away from the contactplate 24 and puts it in connection with the plate 25. The separation of 22 and 24 breaks the circuit through the motor; but this break is shunted by the high-resistance coils of the brake-magnets, thereby energizing them and holding the signal at safety so long as the circuit remains closed in the cabin.

The contact of 22 and 25 closes the break in the distant-signal circuit between 25 and 23. The one revolution of the wiper 14 corresponds to one of shaft 3 and of the chaindrum 4, which is snfiicient to clear the signal. When the circuit through the brake-magnets is broken in the cabin to return the signal to danger, the shaft 3, under the influence of the counterweight, rotates in the opposite direction to that above mentioned. In this movement the wiper 15 strikes the pallet 13 now in its path and through it carries the bar 8, block 20, and contact-springs 22 back to their normal position. This restablishes the electrical connection between the contact-plates 23 and 34, which with proper connections in the cabin establishes a circuit containing the motor and an indication-magnet in the cabin. During the remainder of the descent of the counterweight the motor acts as a generator and develops the current for energizing the indication-magnet. This current also serves to retard the fall of the counterweight and prevents shock to the mechanism. The disks 16 and 17 are adjust able on the shaft3by means of the set-screws 18 and 19, so that the operating-current can be cut 0d at any desired time of the movement of the signal to safety and the indication-current can be developed at any desired time in the movement of the signal to the danger position. The pallet 1.1 is provided as a safeguard in case the signal in going to the danger position should carry the wiper 14 in its backward movement past the position shown in Fig. 1 far enough to strike the pallet 12 and carry it backward out of the path of the wiper 14. This movement carries the pallet 11 back into the path of the wiper 14, so that when the Wiper 14 again moves forward it will by acting on the pallet 11 carry the pallet 12 back into its normal position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In combination with a motor, a signal and a train of gearing actuating the signal, a reciprocating bar, pallets carried by said bar, a reciprocating block placed between lugs on said reciprocating bar, a contact-spring carried by said block, a spiral spring held be tween said block and one of the lugs of said bar, a detent engaging said block, a lug on said detent engaging with 2. lug on said reciprocating bar for releasing said detent and throwing said block by the action of said spiral spring, a disk mounted in rotation with said gearing, a wiper carried by said disk and adapted to engage with one of said pallets,

said wiper and said pallet being so located with reference to each other as to produce the throw of the contact-spring which breaks the operating-circuit and closes the distantsignal circuit, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In combination with a motor, a signal and a train of gearing actuating the signal, of a reciprocating bar, pallets carried by said bar, a reciprocating block placed between lugs on said reciprocating bar, a contact spring carried by said block, a spiral spring held between said block and one of the lugs of said bar, suitable means for engaging and releasing said block, a disk in rotation with said gearing, a wiper carried by said disk and adapted to engage with one of said pallets to produce the throw of the contact-spring which breaks the operating-circuit and closes the distant signal circuit, a second disk mounted in rotation with said gearing, a wiper carried by said second disk and adapted to engage another pallet on said reciprocating bar for replacing said reciprocating bar and said contact-spring to their normal position, thereby reestablishing the operatingcircuit and closing the indication-circuit, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In combination with a motor, a signal, a train of gearing for actuating said signal, a circuit-controller, comprising a reciprocating bar, pallets carried by said bar, a disk in rotation with the gearing, a wiper on said disk and engaging one of said pallets to move said reciprocating bar to its reversed position, a second disk in rotation with said gearing, a wiper on said second disk engaging with another of said pallets to replace said reciprocating bar to its normal position,a third pallet carried by said reciprocating bar adapted to on- 4:; "In combination with a motor, a signal and a train of gearing actuating the signal, a

' circuit-controller, comprising three contactplates, at contact-spring adapted to engageat any one time with only two of said contact plates, a reciprocating bar, a reciprocating block carrying said contact-spring, pallets carried by said bar, a disk in'rotation with said gearing, a wiper on said disk engaging one of said pallets to move said reciprocating bar to its reversed positioma second disk in rotation with said gearing, a wiper 1 on said hand in the presence of two witnesses.

second disk 'engagingwithanother of. said pallets to replace said reciprocating bar to its normal position, means for adjusting said disk, a spiral spring'interposed between said reciprocating bar and said reciprocating block adapted to throw said reciprocating block forward and thus break the operating-circuitand closethe distant-signal circuit, a detent adapted to engage said reciprocating block and hold the same against the action of said spiral spring, a lug on said detent adapted to engage with thelug end of said reciprocating bar and to release said spiral springat the close of the movementof the signal to safety,

a thirdpallet carried by said reciprocating bar-adapted to engage with saidxfirst-mentionedw'iper to replace said reciprocating bar to its normal position in case it has been carried beyond such position-by an excessof movement due to momentuniwhereby the operating-circuit is reestablished and themdication-circuit closed, substantially askand for the purposes set forth. p

-In witness whereof I have hereunto set my JOHN 1). TAYLOR.

Witnesses: V

' JOSEPH H. MQREY,

M. E. SNYDER. 

